Broken Windows Theory
We’ve all been guilty of sharing the opinion along the lines of “… there outa be a law against it.”
Chances are, whatever is your annoyance, there probably is. Just no one to police it. Or, it (the misdemeanor) is so small-time in comparison to bigger issues, no one has the time, inclination or resources to police it.
Examples are all around us. Remember in Australia the $50 on-the-spot fine for littering? There was even a TV campaign due to it being one of the first ‘on-the-spot’ fines introduced in Australia. Now, think of someone who you know or have met that has ever been issued with such a fine. I’ve witnessed smokers standing on footpaths in the Melbourne CBD throw their cigarette butts at the feet of passing police officers and walk off without a word said. So too for other litter.
Port Melbourne beach front is a dog free zone during the summer months. A local law and regulation that dozens of dog owners flout daily. So too for ‘dogs must be held on a leash whilst walking public streets’, yet free roaming dogs are commonplace.
Double parking is illegal, yet an hourly occurrence as a phenomena sweeps Australia of simply stopping in the middle of your lane outside wherever you want to shop or drop off or pick up someone. Stuff the sixty other motorists behind you, ducking in to get a litre of milk is obviously more important than that semi trailer stuck behind trying to deliver supplies on time, or the other motorist trying to get to an appointment. I have witnessed a police car held up by this act, and it simply pulled into the other lane when there was a gap in the traffic and drove on.
Whilst I can appreciate the magnitude of expectations of police the world over, it appears that we are creating an ever increasing list of laws and regulations that we have no real mechanisms to enforce.
And here’s where it gets tricky. So, it is illegal to litter, yet law enforcement use discretion as to when or how they police it. After all what’s a cigarette butt? So too one dog wandering around whilst it’s owner is nearby? No real harm, why bother? That double parking I mentioned. Hey they are only there for a few minutes and most cars managed to get around the obstruction, didn’t they?
If that’s ok, why can’t I do 65 in a 60 zone? It’s only a little bit over.
Why can’t I walk out of my local supermarket without paying for a packet of chewing gum? If it’s on sale, it’s not even $1.
Where, or why, do we draw a line at some things yet not others?
In 1982 Social psychologists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling first introduced the broken windows theory. They theorized that “if a window in a building is broken and is left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken. This is as true in nice neighborhoods as in rundown ones. Window-breaking does not necessarily occur on a large scale because some areas are inhabited by determined window-breakers whereas others are populated by window-lovers; rather, one un-repaired broken window is a signal that no one cares, and so breaking more windows costs nothing.”
If laws go unenforced, and breaking them comes without consequence, the question becomes, what’s the next level of unlawful actions we are prepared to overlook?